Department for Education

Distance Learning

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of Great Books programmes of education.

Damian Hinds: The department has not made an assessment of the Great Books programmes of education. However, the department is clear that English is fundamental to learning and provides the skills and knowledge pupils need to communicate with others, both in school and in the wider world. English provides opportunities for pupils to develop these key communication skills through work on spoken language, reading and writing. All state-funded schools must offer a broad and balanced curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils. As part of this, maintained schools in England must follow the national curriculum. The national curriculum focuses on the key knowledge that should be taught. Within a broad statutory framework, set out in subject specific programmes of study, schools have considerable flexibility to organise the content and delivery of the curriculum to meet the needs of the majority of their pupils and to take account of new developments, societal changes, or topical issues. Attaining proficient standards in language development and the reading and writing of Standard English are the keys to unlocking the rest of the curriculum and key indicators for future success in further education, higher education and employment. The curriculum places a greater focus on reading and requires pupils to study a range of books, poems and plays to encourage the development of a life-long love of literature. Within the framework of the national curriculum, schools make their own choices about which specific programmes or resources they use. Academies have greater freedom in how they operate, but they are expected to teach a curriculum that is comparable in breadth and ambition to the national curriculum, and many choose to teach the full national curriculum to achieve this. Academies may use their freedoms to develop their own curricula, tailored to meet the particular needs of their pupils or their local area or the particular ethos of the school.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Vicky Ford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the per pupil funding to schools (a) in Essex and (b) nationally was in (i) 2016/17 and (ii) 2023/24; and what the percentage increase adjusted for inflation for schools (A) in Essex and (B) nationally was between those years.

Damian Hinds: The department publishes statistics on schools funding at the national level, including revenue funding to state-funded schools in England for pupils aged 5 to 16, in cash and real terms. Statistics for the 2010/11 to 2023/24 financial years are available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-funding-statistics.In 2016/17 national per pupil funding in cash terms was £5,590 and in 2023/24 this had risen to £7,460 in cash terms. This represents a cumulative growth in per pupil funding since 2016/17 of 9.9% in real terms, as measured by the GDP deflator.The published information has been designed to capture core funding for schools and be as consistent and comparable as possible across these years, given that the funding system has changed significantly during that time. It covers mainstream primary and secondary schools, special schools, alternative provision, pupil referral units and non-maintained special schools. Information about the methodology can be found at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/school-funding-statistics-methodology. The department does not have a breakdown of this time series at local authority level, therefore equivalent figures are not available for Essex.At local authority level, the department instead publish per pupil units of funding for the schools block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) in cash terms. In 2016/17 for Essex, this was £4,392. Following changes to the funding system in 2017/18, the primary and secondary per pupil units of funding were provided separately and, in 2023/24 for Essex, these were £4,720 and £6,116 respectively. These figures are for mainstream schools only and do not include any additional grant funding outside of the DSG, such as the mainstream schools additional grant and teachers’ pay additional grant. The national equivalent to these local authority figures is £4,636 for 2016/17 and £4,954 and £6,422 for 2023/24 for primary and secondary schools respectively.

Teachers: Training

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to ensure that teachers receive continuing professional development training in supporting young people with their mental health.

Damian Hinds: It is important to recognise that teachers are not mental health professionals and should not be expected to provide specialist mental health support. However, schools and colleges play a vital role in promoting mental wellbeing, by providing calm, safe and supportive learning environments and helping pupils who need it to access early, targeted support. The department offers a range of training and resources to help teachers do so effectively.The department is offering all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025, enabling them to introduce effective whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. Over 14,400 settings have claimed a grant so far, including more than 7 in 10 state-funded secondary schools, and the department has recently made second grants available for settings who have lost their trained lead. The department’s quality assured training course provides the practical knowledge and skills to implement a whole school or college approach to promoting mental wellbeing. The course also helps senior mental health leads to facilitate the development of school staff, to ensure that all staff can recognise and understand the process to respond to mental health concerns.The department has recently launched two new resources to help trained mental health leads and wider school and college staff to promote and support pupil mental health, both hosted on the Mentally Healthy Schools site. The resource hub signposts practical resources and tools to embed whole-school or college approaches and the targeted mental wellbeing toolkit gives practical advice and tools to help schools and colleges identify the most effective targeted support options for their setting. The resource hub is available at: https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/whole-school-or-college-resources/. The target mental wellbeing toolkit is available at: https://mentallyhealthyschools.org.uk/targeted-support/.To further support teachers and leaders wanting to expand their knowledge and skills, the department has accredited a range of national professional qualifications (NPQs). These qualifications are designed to provide training and support for teachers and school leaders at all levels and deliver improved outcomes for young people. Teachers and leaders who undertake an NPQ in leading teaching, leading behaviour and culture, or leadership will learn the essential knowledge and skills needed to create a calm, safe and supportive school culture, promoting wellbeing for all pupils and staff.

Ministry of Justice

Offenders: Care Leavers

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will update the HM Prison and Probation Service Strategy for Care-Experienced People to include a specific focus on race.

Edward Argar: We are updating our strategy for people with care experience in the criminal justice system, to ensure we are using care-experienced people’s time in the criminal justice system to support them to lead crime-free lives.This will include a focus on race and its role in shaping the experiences and outcomes of those with care experience in the criminal justice system, and will link to wider departmental efforts to address racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system.We are aiming to publish this strategy later this year.

Offenders: Care Leavers

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will update the HM Prison and Probation Service Strategy for Care-Experienced People to include a specific focus on race.

Edward Argar: We are updating our strategy for people with care experience in the criminal justice system, to ensure we are using care-experienced people’s time in the criminal justice system to support them to lead crime-free lives.This will include a focus on race and its role in shaping the experiences and outcomes of those with care experience in the criminal justice system, and will link to wider departmental efforts to address racial disproportionality in the criminal justice system.We are aiming to publish this strategy later this year.

Prisoners' Release: Housing

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison leavers have been accommodated under Community Accommodation Service Tier 3 in (a) total and (b) each of the last three years.

Edward Argar: Prison leavers without settled accommodation are almost 50 per cent more likely to re-offend compared to those with settled accommodation, and a settled place to live is key to reducing re-offending, cutting crime and protecting the public.In July 2021, HM Prison and Probation Service launched a new transitional accommodation service, Community Accommodation Service- Tier 3 (CAS3), providing up to 12 weeks accommodation on release with support to move to settled accommodation, for those leaving prison at risk of homelessness, in five probation regions (Yorkshire and the Humber; Northwest; Greater Manchester; Kent, Surrey and Sussex). Delivery of CAS3 in Wales commenced in June 2022. The service is now operating in all probation regions and new places continue to be added as the service develops.From the commencement of the service on 1 July 2021 up to 31 March 2023, a total of 5,796 people were placed in CAS3 accommodation. The way in which the data are collected does not allow provision of an annual breakdown.

Prison Accommodation: Repairs and Maintenance

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison cells are currently not in use due to (a) disrepair and (b) poor estate conditions in each prison in England and Wales.

Edward Argar: Prison capacity is taken out of use both temporarily and on a longer-term basis for a number of reasons, including deterioration in the standard and condition of the accommodation. Accommodation is also taken out of use for essential maintenance and refurbishment.There are c.1650 places currently out of use to enable this work, down from 2550 in October 2022. This equates to 2% of all available prison places. Due to current pressure on prison capacity, all non-essential maintenance has been stopped to ensure that all cells that can be used are used. Only essential maintenance that is required to meet statutory obligations (e.g. fire safety standards) or keep accommodation in use is being undertaken. We have put in place short-term measures to expand useable capacity across the estate by an extra c.2,300 places since September 2022 while ensuring our prisons remain safe for staff and for prisoners.

Department of Health and Social Care

Social Services: Finance

Simon Jupp: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the costs of social care are funded by the adult social care precept charged by local authorities.

Helen Whately: The total value of the precept each year includes all the annual increases set by councils since 2016/17, and the Government does not publish this total. We cannot therefore calculate the proportion of adult social care spend each year funded from the precept. However, the Government publishes the amount raised by the increase in the adult social care precept each year. In 2023/24, councils could increase the precept by up to 2%, raising an estimated maximum of £561 million. The evidence review for Adult Social Care Reform, published in December 2021, estimated that up to 70% of total adult social care spend is from public sources. The impact of the social care precept varies across the country, depending upon the decisions that local authorities make about how much precept to levy and how much it needs to spend on adult social care.

Community Health Services: Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help reduce waiting times in children’s community health services.

Helen Whately: We monitor community health services waiting lists for children and young people and hold NHS England to account on actions to reduce waiting times.NHS England has asked local health systems to develop plans to reduce waiting lists for community health services.Recognising the waiting times for speech and language therapy, in September 2023, the Department for Education launched 'Early Language Support for Every Child' (ELSEC), with NHS England. ELSEC is a two-year pathfinder programme funding innovative workforce models to improve early identification and support for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs within early years and primary school settings. ELSEC will take place in nine sites across England, one in each Change Programme Partnership. It is running across two academic years from September 2023 to August 2025.In future more healthcare will be provided in the community, and that is why the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan includes commitments to increase the community workforce, with increases in training places for community nurses and allied health professionals, and a renewed focus on retaining existing staff.

Continuing Care: Finance

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will undertake a review of the adequacy of funding for continuing healthcare.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the NHS Continuing Healthcare scheme.

Helen Whately: We have no plans at this time to assess the efficacy of the NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) process or to review funding for CHC. The Government continues to work with our partners, including NHS England who are responsible for oversight of CHC delivery, to deliver CHC policy effectively.

Dementia: Rother Valley

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with dementia in Rother Valley constituency in the last 12 months.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not held centrally. The following table shows the number of people with a new dementia diagnosis code added to their record by NHS England for NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board in each reporting month from April 2023, the earliest period for which data was collected:  MonthTotal number of patients registered at general practicesRecorded diagnosis of dementiaNew recorded diagnosis of dementiaApril 2023261,8112,62525May 2023262,0512,64650June 2023262,3422,67650July 2023262,7262,70140August 2023262,9072,69125September 2023263,1982,73335October 2023263,3672,77655November 2023263,6502,80130

Arthritis: Screening

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with NHS England on including arthritis in NHS health screening programmes.

Andrew Stephenson: In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which can be alerted to any new published peer reviewed evidence which suggests the case for a new screening programme via its annual call, which will open in July 2024.More information about the UK NSC’s annual call is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-annual-call-submitting-a-screening-proposal/uk-nsc-annual-call-how-to-submit-a-proposal

Bacterial Diseases and Sepsis: Lasers

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has provided funding for research into laser treatments for the prevention of (a) sepsis and (b) bacterial infections for people with wounds.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department invests over £1 billion a year through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Since 2017, the NIHR has funded 14 research projects on sepsis diagnosis and management, with a combined total funding value of over £27 million.The Department continues to invest heavily in research and development of new tools to aid in the detection and management of sepsis and bacterial infections with the guidance of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Laser therapies for sepsis and bacterial infections are still in their infancy, but the Department will continue to work closely with NICE to ensure that when they mature, their efficacy is proven and, subject to NICE recommending their use, they may become available to the National Health Service.

Podiatry

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many chiropodists are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many podiatrists are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Andrew Stephenson: The Health and Care Professions Council regulates podiatrists and chiropodists in the United Kingdom. The combined number of podiatrists and chiropodists registered with the Health and Care Professions Council is available at the following link:https://www.hcpc-uk.org/about-us/insights-and-data/the-register/

NHS: Staff

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department plans to take to (a) review progress and (b) publish statements on the implementation of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

Andrew Stephenson: We have established a Long Term Workforce Plan Governance Board which will ensure the delivery and review the progress of the Long Term Workforce Plan implementation.The modelling NHS England has used in the Plan is founded on data, evidence and analysis and provides a set of broad ranges to measure the potential impact of actions over its 15-year timeframe. We have committed to refreshing the modelling that underpins the plan every two years, or in line with fiscal events.

Liver Diseases: Screening

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance entitled FibroScan for assessing liver fibrosis and cirrhosis outside secondary and specialist care published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on 7 June 2023, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding the use of FibroScans in (a) primary and (b) community care.

Andrew Stephenson: A practice has clinical discretion to decide if a FibroScan is necessary and appropriate for a patient and can either provide directly or through a provider, typically a hospital out-patient appointment.FibroScan capacity is also being increased via the community diagnostics centre (CDC) programme, backed as part of a £2.3 billion investment in diagnostic transformation. We currently have plans for 11 sites to be live with FibroScans by the end of 2023/24; seven are currently live with the test. By March 2025 we will have 15 CDCs offering FibroScans.NHS England is reviewing existing liver diagnosis pathways as part of its wider diagnostic transformation work, to determine what the best approach should be to identify patients at an earlier stage of liver disease, through a liver pathway starting in primary care and involving pathology labs and CDCs. This will include a combination of blood tests and FibroScans.

Suicide: Health Services

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding she has committed to the National Suicide Prevention strategy.

Maria Caulfield: Through the NHS Long Term Plan we are investing £57 million in suicide prevention by March 2024, and all local areas now have suicide prevention plans to address the specific needs of their populations.In addition, the Government’s £10 million Suicide Prevention Grant Fund will run from 2023 to March 2025 to support voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to deliver suicide prevention activity.

Remote Working: Mental Health

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of working from home on mental health.

Maria Caulfield: We have made no such assessment.

Suicide: Health Services

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to work with local government to deliver a joined-up approach to suicide prevention.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking work with Cabinet colleagues to deliver a joined-up approach to suicide prevention.

Maria Caulfield: The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published on 11 September 2023, is a multi-sector and cross-Government strategy, with actions from a wide range of organisations that will be delivered over the next five years. Suicide prevention is everybody’s business, and a joined-up approach is essential to achieving this. The strategy is a call for action for national and local government, the health service, the voluntary, community & social enterprise sector, employers and individuals to tackle suicide.We have worked across Government departments to develop this strategy and will continue to do so in order to deliver the actions within it. As part of this, the Government will take a leading role in tackling methods of suicide, collaborating with partners across the world in policy, law enforcement and society more broadly to limit access, reduce awareness, and share research, evidence and lessons learned. We are also working with NHS England and professional bodies to improve suicide prevention signposting and support to people in contact with primary care services.We are working with the Department for Work and Pensions in seeking opportunities to improve the Government’s role in supporting employers to improve the support they provide for the mental wellbeing of themselves and their employees.In November 2023 we launched a new nationwide near real-time suspected suicide surveillance system that will improve the early detection of and timely action to address changes in suicide rates or trends.We are also working together with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and local authorities to explore opportunities for improving data collection and data sharing in all areas.More generally, we work closely with local government via the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ regional leads network, and we have set out our intention in the strategy to write guidance for local areas to support them to align their own strategies with the national strategy.

Mental Health Services

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps (a) her Department and (b) the NHS is taking to (i) manage and (ii) reduce the growth of (A) depression, (B) bad nerves and (C) anxiety in the working age population.

Maria Caulfield: We are investing £2.3 billion of additional funding a year by March 2024 compared to 2018/19 to expand and transform mental health services in England so that two million more people can get the mental health support that they need. This includes expanding NHS Talking Therapies for adults with common mental illness such as depression or anxiety, and including bad nerves.The Spring 2023 Budget contained several packages that support mental health, including over £400 million to support the long-term sick and disabled to remain in or enter employment. This includes around £200 million for digital mental health, which is funding to modernise and digitise mental health services in England, providing wellness and clinical grade apps free at the point of use, pilot cutting-edge digital therapies and digitise the NHS Talking Therapies programme.In addition, as announced at the 2023 Autumn Statement, we are further expanding and improving Talking Therapies from 2024/25 to 2028/29 so that an additional 384,000 people with anxiety or depression can benefit from accessing a course of treatment. The additional funding will also enable us to increase the average number of therapy sessions that each person can access, helping more people to recover.

Mental Health Services: Research

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information (a) her Department and (b) the NHS has collected on (i) interventions, (ii) strategies and (iii) policies that are successful at reducing levels of (A) depression, (B) bad nerves and (C) anxiety in the working age population.

Maria Caulfield: Considerable progress has been made in developing effective psychological therapies for these conditions. This progress has been recognised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which now recommends psychological therapies as first choice interventions for depression and anxiety disorders, including bad nerves. Individuals who are seen within NHS Talking Therapies services can expect to receive a course of NICE-recommended psychological therapy from an appropriately trained individual. Services are delivered using a stepped-care model, which works according to the principle that people should be offered the least intrusive intervention appropriate for their needs first.In 2021/22, over 1.2 million people were able to access NHS Talking Therapies services. This expansion was the result of training and deploying thousands of new psychological therapists and practitioners, as well as providing additional training modules for existing therapists. The recovery rate was 50% in 2021/22. The 2023 Autumn Statement invested further in NHS Talking Therapies. This will increase the number of sessions per course of Talking Therapies treatment to tackle the root causes of common mental health conditions like anxiety and depression and broaden access, leading to an expected additional 384,000 people completing a course of treatment by 2028/29.There is an extensive literature showing that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and NHS Talking Therapies more widely have significant positive and durable health impacts, including for those of working age specifically. A University of Sheffield study highlighted a large post-treatment effect in depression and anxiety measures in the United Kingdom.Another UK study by Professor David Clark found that around 50% of patients treated in NHS Talking Therapies services recover, and two-thirds show worthwhile benefits.

Health Services and Social Services: Disability

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the findings of the Healthwatch publication, Accessible Information Standard: Findings from our evidence review, published in February 2022, on levels of (a) training and (b) awareness of the standard.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England is responsible for the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), and has completed a review of the AIS considering a wide range of evidence to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss are met in health and care provision.The review considered the effectiveness of the current AIS, how the standard is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement. One of the aims of the review was to strengthen assurance of implementation of the AIS, and a self-assessment framework has been developed to support providers of National Health Service and social care services to measure their performance against the AIS and develop improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation.Following publication of the revised standard in due course, NHS England will continue work to support its implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it. NHS England is developing the updated e-learning training modules on the AIS. NHS England has and will continue to work with the voluntary sector and those with lived experience to ensure that the modules are fully accessible, reflective of people’s experience in using services and cover a range of examples across health and adult social care. These actions should support better and more consistent implementation of the standard.

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority: Licensing

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many licences were issued by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for the purpose of the (a) procurement, (b) testing, (c) processing, (d) preservation, (e) storage and (f) distribution of (i) gametes, (ii) embryos, (iii) vitro fertilisation and (iv) artificial insemination treatments in 2023.

Maria Caulfield: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that there was a total of 118 centres licensed for treatment or storage of gametes or embryos in 2023, where 30 new licenses or renewed licenses were issued in 2023. The following table shows the number of licences issued for each purpose, noting that the HFEA does not issue licenses for preservation:Purpose of licenseNumber of new or renewed licenses in 2023Procurement30Testing15Processing30Storage28Distribution of:GametesEmbryosin vitro fertilisationArtificial insemination treatments30 23 19 26

Infant Mortality and Miscarriage: Bereavement Counselling

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) quality and (b) consistency of support provided by NHS Trusts for bereaved parents following miscarriage or baby loss.

Maria Caulfield: In 2023/24, NHS England is investing £5.9 million nationally to support the delivery of daily bereavement care services for women and families who suffer pregnancy/baby loss and is growing the number of staff trained in bereavement care. All parents experiencing a loss should be provided with safe and compassionate bereavement support that is responsive to their needs and choices. While we recognise that many units are working towards these standards, this standard of bereavement care provision needs to be consistent nationally. We are also looking to improve access to and the quality of perinatal mental health care for mothers and their partners. There are now 35 Maternal Mental Health Services across England which provide psychological therapy for women experiencing mental health difficulties related to their maternity experience, including as a result of loss. Services are due to be implemented in every area of the country by March 2024.

Mental Health: Social Media

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the use of social media by different age groups on levels of (a) depression, (b) bad nerves and (c) anxiety.

Maria Caulfield: We have funded independent research into the impact of screen-based activities, including use of social media on young people’s mental health outcomes. Following this, in 2019, the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) produced advice for parents and carers on screen and social media use.The findings of the research were insufficiently conclusive to support evidence-based guidelines by the CMOs on optimal amounts of screen use or online activities. However, we will continue to evaluate this and our policy development in light of any new research. The findings of the research are available at the following link:http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=3748

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that the human rights of people detained under the Mental Health Act are upheld.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to increase protections for liberties under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Maria Caulfield: The Mental Health Act 1983 Code of Practice provides statutory guidance to healthcare professionals on how they should carry out functions under the Mental Health Act, including compliance with human rights legislation and ensuring patients’ rights are protected and ensured. The Care Quality Commission has a duty under the Mental Health Act to monitor how services exercise their powers and discharge their duties when patients are detained in hospital or are subject to community treatment orders or guardianship. The Mental Health Act also provides safeguards to ensure patients are informed of their rights under the Act and their ability to challenge detention. This includes access to an independent advocate and mental health tribunals, which provides a significant safeguard for patients who have had their liberty curtailed under the Act. As public bodies, National Health Service commissioners and providers are expected to deliver the best possible outcomes for everyone who uses their services, including people detained under the Mental Health Act. This includes putting human rights principles and standards into practice, aiming to secure the full enjoyment of human rights for all and ensuring rights are protected and secured. It remains our intention to bring forward a Mental Health Bill when Parliamentary time allows.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Equality

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the budget for diversity and inclusion (a) advisers and (b) practitioners was in his Department in each financial year since 2019-20.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Diversity and Inclusion Advisers/Practitioners undertake this role on a voluntary basis in addition to their normal duties. Costs incurred in conducting these duties would be small and absorbed within wider Unit budgets. Disaggregating these costs from wider budgets would exceed the cost limit for answering a Parliamentary Question.

Ministry of Defence Police: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2023 to Question 5480 on Ministry of Defence Police: Housing, how many Service Family Accommodation units are (a) available for and (b) occupied by Ministry of Defence police officers as of 18 December 2023.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2023 to Question 5480 on Ministry of Defence Police: Housing, how many Service Family Accommodation units are available for Ministry of Defence police officers, by grade, as of 18 December 2023.

James Cartlidge: No Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties are exclusively available for Ministry of Defence police. As of 18 December 2023, eight SFA properties are occupied by Ministry of Defence Police Officers. As at 1 December 2023, 96.11% of SFA was assessed as meeting or exceeding the Government’s Decent Home (DH) Standard. Any homes below this standard should not be allocated to families.

Red Sea: Shipping

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support maritime security in the Red Sea.

James Heappey: As stated by the Secretary of State for Defence in his Written Ministerial Statement of 19 December; the MOD has bolstered its contribution to maritime security in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. HMS DIAMOND is in the region in support of Op PROSPERITY GUARDIAN, a US led international operation established to protect freedom of navigation throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. On 16 December HMS DIAMOND shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle in the Red Sea, the first surface-to-air engagement by a Royal Navy vessel since 1991. On 3 January the UK and 11 other countries issued a statement condemning the unjustified attacks on maritime shipping through the Red Sea. On 10 January 2023, the UK and US successfully repelled the largest and most complex attack from the Iranian-backed Houthis in the Red Sea to date. HMS DIAMOND and US warships destroyed multiple attack drones deployed by the Houthis with HMS DIAMOND using Sea Viper missiles and guns. The UK and allies remain committed to the international rules-based order and are determined to hold malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks. The UK has condemned the attacks and is willing to take the action needed to protect innocent lives and freedom of navigation.

Ministry of Defence: Data Protection

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many times his Department referred itself to the Information Commissioner's Office in each year since 2019.

James Cartlidge: The following table shows the number of times that the Ministry of Defence referred itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office since 2019. YearNumber of times Ministry of Defence referred itself to information Commissioner’s Office20195202082021 10202262023 (up to 18 Dec)2

Israel: Arms Trade

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of Israel’s compliance with arms licence criteria.

James Cartlidge: All applications for export licences are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We continue to monitor closely the situation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, and if extant licences are found to be no longer consistent with the Criteria, including where there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law which governs armed conflict, then we are able to revoke, suspend or amend these licences.

Israel: Military Aid

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when offensive military equipment was last provided to Israel.

James Cartlidge: Information is not held by the Ministry of Defence on the provision of offensive military equipment to Israel. Official statistics on licences granted to Industry for exports to Israel are held by the Department of Business and Trade.

Ukraine: Ammunition

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to help increase production of 155mm shells for Ukraine.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) placed an order in June 2023 with BAE Systems to provide an eight-fold increase in production capability of 155mm shells. The MOD contract is for significant initial quantities of 155mm shells which will reinstate and build sovereign capability and stockpiles.In respect of artillery ammunition being providing to Ukraine, since the start of the conflict, the UK has donated over 300,000 rounds of artillery ammunition - including 155mm and Former Soviet Union calibres.

Defence Equipment: Spare Parts

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many spare parts his Department has (a) in total and (b) for equipment no longer in use.

James Cartlidge: The requested information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Diego Garcia: Military Bases

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what reassurances his Department has received from the government of Mauritius on the future of the military base in Diego Garcia.

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential risks to national security of the proposed transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

James Heappey: The joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia plays a crucial role in combating some of the most challenging threats to regional and international security. The UK and Mauritius have conducted several rounds of negotiations on the exercise of sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory/Chagos Archipelago. The UK and Mauritius have reiterated that any agreement between our two countries will ensure the continued effective operation of joint UK/US military base on Diego Garcia.

United Nations: Peacekeping Operations

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK personnel have served in UN peacekeeping missions in each year since 2019.

James Heappey: Since 2019, the UK has contributed to the following UN Peacekeeping missions: MINUSMA (Mali), MONUSCO(DRC), UNFICYP(Cyprus), UNIFIL(Lebanon), UNMISS (South Sudan), UNSMIL(Libya), UNSOM(Somalia). The total number of UK personnel who have served on these missions in each year since 2019 is outlined below. 2019: 2,2842020: 1,1152021: 1,8442022: 1,9782023: 1,211 The figures provided capture those directly employed on the UN Missions. Where the UK deployed at Unit level and above, the figures also include those who served as part of the National Support Element. The figures do not include the UK troops training and mentoring partner forces in advance of their deployment on UN operations.

NATO: Military Exercises

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department contributed to NATO training exercises in each financial year since 2019-20.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding his Department plans to contribute to NATO training exercises in the (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26 financial year.

James Heappey: On current plans, the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) contributions to NATO common funding, of which Alliance training and exercising forms a part, are as follows: £ million2019-202020-212021-222022-232023-242024-252025-26UK Share of common funding149.4153.2173.9201.1264.0316.6388.1 This table shows the UK’s share of common funding, detailing the actual amounts the MOD contributed in Financial Years 2019-20 – 2022-23 and the forecast for 2023-24 and beyond. The costs associated with UK involvement in NATO training exercises are spread across multiple budgets within Defence and could only be disaggregated from other national exercising costs at disproportionate cost.

Capita: Cybercrime

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the impact of the cyber attack against Capita in March 2023 on the security of civil servants' pensions data.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Integrity and Security of the Civil Service pension scheme is a matter for the Cabinet Office as the lead Department for the scheme. Any assessment of the impact of the reported Capita data breach on the security of civil servant pension data is a matter for the Cabinet Office and should be directed to them.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 21 of JSP 763 entitled Behaviours and informal complaint resolution Part 1 (Directive), how many climate assessments conducted in civilian Top Level Budgets were made in each year since 2019.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 21 of JSP 763 Behaviours and informal complaint resolution Part 1: Directive – understanding behaviours in Defence, how many climate assessments conducted in civilian Top Level Budgets reported (a) bullying, (b) harassment and (c) discrimination in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the right hon. Member’s Questions. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Ministry of Defence: Equality

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many active bystander training courses diversity and inclusion (a) advisers and (b) practitioners conducted for his Department in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Neither Diversity and Inclusion Advisers or Practitioners are tasked with delivering Active Bystander Training. Active Bystander Training has been an eLearning course since 2020.

Ministry of Defence: Training

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff members participated in training courses that were provided externally in each financial year since 2019-20.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 19 of JSP 763 entitled Behaviours and informal complaints resolution Part 1 (Directive), how many people in his Department participated in active bystander training in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The information requested is given below:2019: 1,7402020: 27,6292021: 46,1852022: 73,2292023: 61, 801

Ministry of Defence: Staff

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many diversity and inclusion (a) advisers and (b) practitioners have been employed by his Department in each year since 2019.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many diversity and inclusion (a) adviser and (b) practitioner posts in his Department are vacant as of 19 December 2023.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer provided to 186813 on 9 June 2023. The Ministry of Defence is committed to making changes required to create a more inclusive environment, enabling everyone, irrespective of background, to deliver our Defence outputs, enhance our operational effectiveness and better defend and represent the nation. The requested information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Ministry of Defence; Equality (docx, 14.9KB)

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 3 of JSP 763 entitled Behaviours and informal complaint resolution Part 1 (Directive), if he will publish the civilian formal bullying, harassment, and discrimination complaint process.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Although some Service and wholeforce (covering both Service personnel and civilian employees) policy and procedure documents are published externally, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not routinely publish civilian-only policy and procedure documents externally. This is in line with many other government departments' approach. The MOD has no plans to change this approach.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 17 of the guidance entitled JSP 763: Behaviours and Informal Complaint Resolution: Part 1: Directive - Understanding Behaviours in Defence, published in June 2021, how many people who made a complaint of (a) bullying, (b) harassment and (c) discrimination within his Department decided to not take the matter further but keep a personal record.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The below table shows the number of admissible complaints withdrawn before determination across the Royal Navy, Army and RAF.  Year Reporting Category20192020202120222023TotalBullying17161112965Discrimination8963228Harassment8533019 This information is not centrally held for civilian complaints.

Defence Business Services: Staff

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many casework advisers were employed to work in Defence Business Services in each year since 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The below table shows the number of HR caseworkers at the end of each financial year since March 2019. MonthMarchMarchMarchMarchMarchYear20192020202120222023Number of HR caseworkers3226293231

Ministry of Defence: Fees and Charges

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on professional fees in each financial year since 2019-20.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Details of spending on professional fees are disclosed as part of the published Annual Report and Accounts (ARAC) each financial year.

Ministry of Defence: Training

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on training courses that were provided externally in each financial year since 2019-20.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The amount spent on training fees over the previous four financial years is as follows: External Training2019-202020-212021-222022-23£ million229.3212.8307.2338.9

Armed Forces: Recruitment

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the armed forces assess applicants' UCAS points when those applicants have qualifications of undergraduate degree or above.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The single Services have provided the following information. Royal Navy (RN)Regular Officer roles require UCAS points. Exceptions to this are specialist roles, e.g. medical, dental, nursing and meteorology roles, which do not require UCAS points, but have a variety of specialist degree requirements. Engineering Officer roles require both UCAS points and specific degree requirements. British ArmyTo apply to join the Army as a commissioned Officer, applicants require 72 UCAS Tariff points from a maximum of three subjects (four for Scottish Highers, excluding General Studies) with a minimum of two subjects at National Level 3 (excluding AS Levels) or National or International equivalent. With further qualifications and UCAS points required for certain specific trades within the British Army, a First Class degree is no longer an automatic waiver to UCAS attainment. Royal Air Force (RAF)For most RAF roles, RAF Recruiting and Selection does not routinely assess applicants’ UCAS points when a degree or higher qualification is held. For some specialist roles, such as Biomedical Scientist and Nurse, the UCAS points achieved to gain a first non-related degree may be considered to ensure the candidate is capable of studying the second specialist degree required as part of their in-Service training. This assessment is carried out on a case-by-case basis by Specialist Recruiting Teams with the University providing the specialist degree.

Armed Forces: Recruitment

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether British citizens with dual nationality are permitted to join the armed forces at an officer rank.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Yes, as long as they meet all the required criteria for the Service they have applied to join, including for security vetting purposes.

Armed Forces: Disciplinary Proceedings

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many serving armed forces personnel have received disciplinary action for refusing to remove facial hair in each year since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The requested information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Israel: Palestinians

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on allegations that Israeli forces delayed a UN convoy that was evacuating patients from Al Ahli hospital on 9 December 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is clear that the wounded and critically ill in Gaza should be able to access the urgent medical care they need, that the safety of humanitarian personnel and healthcare workers in Gaza is critical to enable aid to reach those who need it most. We also want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary continue to make this clear in engagements with their Israeli counterparts. The UK is focussed on alleviating the desperate humanitarian situation and the UK played a leading role in securing the passage of Security Council Resolution 2720, which underlined the urgent demand for expanded humanitarian access.

Israel: Hamas

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of individuals currently held hostage by (a) Israel and (b) Hamas.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Israel estimates that there are still 132 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, including civilians and military personnel (this includes individuals who are believed deceased but death has not been confirmed). Urgent work is continuing at all levels with regional leaders and others to ensure all the remaining hostages are safely freed. We are not going to give a running commentary on hostage negotiations, which are highly sensitive and ongoing, but we are involved in intensive diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages and working with Israel, the US and others.

Afghanistan: Pakistan

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Pakistan on the removal of Afghan nationals from Pakistan.

Leo Docherty: The UK Government continues to monitor the return of Afghans from Pakistan, recognising that every country has the sovereign right to manage their borders. The Foreign Secretary met with Pakistan's Caretaker Foreign Minister on 30 November 2023 and received assurances towards the safety of Afghans who are eligible for UK resettlement under the ARAP and ACRS schemes. We are working with the UN Refugee Agency to ensure Pakistan adheres to its international human rights obligations. Since September, we have committed £18.5 million to the International Organisation for Migration in Afghanistan to support undocumented returnees.

Hamas: Hostage Taking

Apsana Begum: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on the number of Israeli hostages that (a) were taken on 7 October 2023, (b) have died, (c) have been released and (d) remain in captivity.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Over 240 hostages were taken on 7 October 2023. Israel estimates that there are still 132 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, including civilians and military personnel (this includes individuals who are believed deceased but death has not been confirmed). We understand the number of recorded deceased to be at 15. During the humanitarian pause, it is reported that Hamas freed 108 hostages, including 80 Israelis/ dual nationals. Urgent work is continuing at all levels with regional leaders and others to ensure all remaining hostages are safely freed. We are not going to give a running commentary on hostage negotiations, which are highly sensitive and ongoing, but we are involved in intensive diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages and working with Israel, the US and others.

Israel: Hamas

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on reports that the Israeli Defense Forces (a) arrested Hamas terrorists responsible for the killings on 7 October 2023, (b) destroyed Hamas infrastructure and (c) recovered weapons in Jabalya.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Both the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have been in close contact with their Israeli counterparts since the outbreak of the conflict and routinely discuss the progress of Israel's actions in Gaza in their engagements. They have made clear their strong support to Israel to restore its security and remove the threat of Hamas, while reiterating that its military operations must be conducted in accordance with International Humanitarian Law.

Gaza: Humanitarian Aid

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answers of 24 November 2023 and 11 December 2023 to Questions 2123 and 4902 on Gaza: Humanitarian Aid, for what reasons the daily average of 500 truckloads of humanitarian supplies is not being reached; and what progress he has made in finding other routes for aid to get into Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Getting significantly more aid into Gaza is a priority. Constraints to the number of trucks entering on a daily basis, include enhanced screening requirements, limited points of entry and insufficient functioning trucks and fuel within Gaza to handle the volume of assistance needed. The Foreign Secretary has recently appointed a Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and who will actively engage with international partners and those operating on the ground to help unblock bottlenecks to delivery.

Hamas: Audio Equipment

Bob Blackman: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of media reports of Hamas's use of (a) children’s toys and (b) speakers broadcasting crying sounds in the conflict in Gaza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are aware of media reports from Israel of a range of tactics used by Hamas during the conflict in Gaza, including the use of psychological warfare, but cannot comment on specific reports. The UK has proscribed Hamas as a terrorist organisation in part since 2001 and in whole since 2021. We are clear that Hamas commits terrorist acts. As the Foreign Secretary has set out, Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas and to eliminate the threat posed. Leaving Hamas in power in Gaza would be a permanent roadblock on the path to a two-state solution. On 13 December 2023, the Government announced new sanctions on the leaders and financiers of Hamas.

Serbia: Elections

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made for the implications of his Department's policies of reported irregularities in the Serbian parliamentary elections held on 17 December 2023.

Leo Docherty: The UK contributed a strong contingent to the combined international mission observing last month's Serbian Parliamentary elections, alongside support for local election observation. The UK shares concerns over serious election irregularities. Serbia should investigate these swiftly and effectively, including addressing allegations of election-related violence, and implement the recommendations of the International Election Observation Mission. We hope for swift central government formation to make early progress, including on normalisation of relations with Kosovo.

Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his Rwandan counterpart on potential threats to the personal safety of Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We regularly discuss the importance of open political space with the Rwandan government. I did so during my visit to Kigali in August 2023, and we continue to engage with Rwandan officials on this issue via our High Commission.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Land and Property

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of maintaining under-utilised (a) buildings, (b) other property and (c) land held by Government departments in the last 12 months.

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) buildings, (b) land and (c) other property held by the Government are no longer required for operational purposes; and whether his Department is taking steps to (i) dispose and (ii) repurpose each site.

Alex Burghart: The requested information is not centrally held by the Cabinet Office and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the Department. Estates operations, performance and finances are for the operating department to manage themselves. The Government Property Strategy, published August 2022, commits to a smaller, better, greener estate, disposing of surplus, under-utilised and poor quality property to enable efficiency savings and bring in capital receipts. The full report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-property-strategy-2022-2030 Managing Public Money sets out protocols for the disposal and transfer of surplus property and land assets at Annex A4.15, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money. Departments can upload data on properties or land that are no longer required for operational purposes on the Government Property Finder (https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property) and / or Register of Surplus Land (https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/28c593bf-85fa-4676-a47b-45189d396ed9/land-register-of-surplus-land).

Government Departments: Land and Property

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) buildings, (b) other properties and (c) land leased by the Government have leases that are due to expire in each of the next ten years; how much the Government pays for each site each year; and what functions are performed on each site.

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the total value of (a) land, (b) buildings and (c) other property owned by the Government.

Alex Burghart: The Government Property Strategy, published August 2022, commits to a smaller, better, greener estate, disposing of surplus, under-utilised and poor quality property to enable efficiency savings and bring in capital receipts. The full report can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-property-strategy-2022-2030 Full information on the spend for each site and the functions performed as well as property and land leases across the Government is held by individual departments and is not centrally held. The answer would therefore incur a disproportionate cost to the Cabinet Office. Additionally, disclosing information on rent and leases is often deemed commercially sensitive and may undermine businesses' trust in us as a commercial partner. Information on the total land value of Government owned land, buildings and other property is published on gov.uk as part of the State of the Estate 2021-2022 (SofTE) report, Section 1.1, found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6436b48e877741000c68d867/State-of-The-Estate-21-22-Accessible.pdf From the SofTE report, Section 1.1, the Central government estate was valued at £188.2bn. The total value of (a) land was £4.7bn with (b) buildings and (c) other property being a combined £183.5bn between 2020-21.

Civil Servants: Workplace Pensions

Chris Law: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the Government has made of the security of civil servants' pensions data following the cyber attack against Capita in March 2023.

John Glen: The Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) contract has been structured to ensure that robust Information Security including Cyber Security controls are in place. This has been a fundamental principle from the inception of the procurement. As such the procurement has built measures into the CSPS contract and supporting requirements to ensure that Information Security including Cyber Security is of paramount importance throughout all stages of transition and the contract term. This includes:CSPS requirements including a robust set of security principles that are up to date with the latest His Majesty's Government (HMG) requirements, specifically no off-shoring of CSPS data, annual IT health checks, a monthly Security Working Group to review and investigate any issues relating to security and ongoing requirement to provide Cabinet Office Digital team, assurance against the Cyber Assessment Framework (GovAssure) standard.Embedding within the CSPS contract is the requirement to ensure that Capita, and the administration solution, will be subject to a rigorous accreditation process prior to any CSPS data being migrated to their infrastructure.Enhancements being made to the standard Model Service Contract Security Schedule (2.4) to ensure that the Cabinet Office has the contractual leverage to enforce proactive and reactive controls for cyber and data security.

Deputy Prime Minister: USA

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the publication of transparency data on ministerial overseas travel for the period July to September 2023 on 14 December 2023, for what reason the (a) cost for the RAF flight and (b) the total cost for the Deputy Prime Minister's visit to the United States from 19 to 23 September 2023 were not included.

Alex Burghart: Finalised costs for the Deputy Prime Minister’s visit to the United States from 19 to 23 September are currently pending confirmation. This entry will be updated when available.

Civil Servants: Workplace Pensions

Chris Law: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what criteria were used to assess the suitability of Capita to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme for his Department.

John Glen: The Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) procurement was run in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. In accordance with this, strict criteria were applied to the evaluation of all bids submitted. In summary:All final tender bids submitted were assessed against three criteria, each with an allocated weighting. These areas were Quality (65%), Price (25%) and Social Value (10%).The Quality aspects of the bid evaluated included: Security, Business Systems, Core Administration, Member & Employer Engagement, Data, Fraud & Finance, Risk & Governance and Transition.The Social Value aspects of the bid evaluated included: Tackling Economic Inequality, Fighting Climate Change, Equal Opportunity and Wellbeing.To ensure that the evaluation of all bids was fair, proportionate and met the criteria for best value for money, strict moderation protocols were implemented to ensure that consensus was agreed on the outcomes.

Public Bodies

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on implementing the public bodies reform programme 2020 to 2025; and if he will make an estimate of the impact of that reform programme on costs to the public purse (i) so far and (ii) in each of the next three financial years.

John Glen: To date the Public Bodies Reform Programme 2020 to 2025 and wider Public Bodies Team has provided value for money for the taxpayer through:conducting a prototype of corporate service benchmarking across 90 arm’s length bodies (ALBs), uncovering spend discrepancies and identifying scope for savings if ALB spending is brought in-line with the median spend;the Public Bodies Review Programme, which commits departments to review 125 ALBs, covering 90% of ALB expenditure. Departments are expected to identify 5% operating expenditure savings in each full-scale review. So far, 60% of the 125 planned reviews have been initiated and £35 million in efficiency savings identified;tightening approval processes for new ALBs, diverting almost 70% of proposed ALBs to less expensive delivery options;publishing codes of practice for ALBs to improve financial oversight and risk management between department and ALBs; andintroducing quarterly non-executive (NED) board member inductions.The Public Bodies Reform Programme runs until 31 March 2025. The Government will take a decision about the priorities for future public bodies reform in due course.

Civil Servants

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil servants were employed in each (a) Government department and (b) other public sector bodies by (i) head count and (ii) full time equivalent in each year since 1997.

John Glen: Civil Service employment on both a headcount and full-time equivalent basis by government departments and their executive agencies and Crown NDPBs has been published on a quarterly basis since 2005 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of Public Sector Employment Statistics. The ONS statistics are our preferred headline measure for overall Civil Service and departmental employment. Departmental information back to 2005 can be accessed from the following ONS releases: 2011 to 2023https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable2010https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20100910182617mp_/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/Table6AllDepts.xls2009https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20090904133714mp_/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/Table6AllDepts.xls2008https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20080620171700mp_/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/Table6AllDepts.xls2007https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20070705132738mp_/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/Table6AllDepts.xls2006https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20070202114523/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pse0906.pdf2005https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20090104164723mp_/http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/documents/xls/statistics/qpses/pses_q1_2005_revised_jan06.xls Information on Civil Service employment, on both a headcount and full-time equivalent basis by government department and their executive agencies and Crown NDPBs, is also available and published annually by Cabinet Office as part of Civil Service Statistics and can be accessed from the webpages below: 2006 to 2023 https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics1970 to 2005 https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20110422215349/http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/resources/stats-archive/archived-reports.aspx

Civil Servants: Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost was of civil service salaries in each year since 1997.

John Glen: The Cabinet Office does not hold actual outturn salary cost information for all Civil Service departments and organisations since 1997. However, estimated nominal Civil Service salary costs have previously been calculated for the years 2010 to 2023. These are provided in Table 1 below. Table 1YearEstimated nominal salary cost (£ billions)201012.7201112.4201211.6201311.4201411.6201511.7201611.6201711.8201812.4201913.2202014.0202115.4202216.6202317.8Source: Civil Service StatisticsFigures are based on Civil Service salaries as at 31st March in each year, and have been adjusted for missing values. They have not been adjusted for inflation (i.e. they are nominal values).

Civil Servants

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) total and (b) full-time equivalent head count was of the civil service in each year since 1997.

John Glen: Civil service employment on both a headcount and full-time equivalent basis since 1997 is shown in Table 1 below. Table 1: Civil Service employment on both a headcount and full-time equivalent basis since 1997 (thousands) Reference pointHeadcountFull-time Equivalent (FTE)Mar-97496 [1]495Mar-98484 [1]481Mar-99497475Mar-00509485Mar-01519494Mar-02529502Mar-03552521Mar-04565534Mar-05558525Mar-06555521Mar-07538504Mar-08518485Mar-09519485Mar-10522487Mar-11508465Mar-12459424Mar-13443409Mar-14435401Mar-15434400Mar-16419387Mar-17419389Mar-18430399Mar-19446414Mar-20456423Mar-21505468Mar-22512480Mar-23521489Sep-23529496 Sources:1997-1998 Civil Service Statistics, Cabinet Office. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics1999-2023 Public Sector Employment Statistics, ONShttps://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/publicsectoremploymentreferencetable Notes:1. All data refer to total Civil Service employment for both permanent and temporary/casual employees, except for 1997 and 1998 headcount numbers. The figures for 1997 and 1998 do not include temporary/casual employees in the headcount totals as they are not available.2. ONS Public Sector Employment Statistics is the preferred headline measure for Civil Service employment since 1999. Civil Service Statistics, published annually by the Cabinet Office, provides more detailed demographic information for the Civil Service workforce, and prior to 1999, also provides the preferred headline measure for Civil Service employment.

Average Earnings

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the median gross hourly pay of workers was by nationality in the most recent period for which data is available.

John Glen: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon Members Parliamentary Question of 18th December is attached. I will also deposit a copy of the dataset in the House Libraries. UK Statistics Authority (pdf, 107.8KB)7399 dataset (xlsx, 21.6KB)

Employment

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2023 to Question 5990, if he will publish the employment rate by nationality in each year since 2010.

John Glen: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon Members Parliamentary Question of 18th December is attached. I will also deposit a copy of the dataset in the House Libraries. UK Statistics Authority (pdf, 108.5KB)7398 dataset (xlsx, 31.9KB)

Farmers: Suicide

Tim Farron: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number of farmers that have died by suicide in each of the last ten years.

John Glen: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon Members Parliamentary Question of 19th December is attached. UK Statistics Authority (pdf, 125.0KB)

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Housing: Disability

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the publication entitled Raising accessibility standards for new homes: summary of consultation responses and government response, updated 29 July 2022, what his planned timetable is for raising the baseline regulatory requirements for accessibility of all new homes to the M4(2) accessible and adaptable requirement.

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the Planning Inspectorate to reject local plans that do not include a policy statement that sets a target for the proportion of homes to be built for wheelchair users under part M4 (3) of the building regulations.

Lee Rowley: I refer my Hon Friend to the answer given to Question UIN HL8422 on 26 June 2023. Councils can only adopt a plan that is sound; it should be consistent with national policy, be supported by evidence and take the views of local people into account. Each plan is subject to a public examination in front of an independent Inspector who plays an important role in examining plans impartially to ensure that they are legally compliant and sound. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that local authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including older people and people with disabilities, and reflect this in their local plan.

Working Hours: Pilot Schemes

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the report by Autonomy entitled The results are in: the UK's four-day week pilot, published in February 2023.

Simon Hoare: The Government does not support any attempt from local authorities to implement Part-Time Work for Full-Time pay – so-called ‘four-day week’ or equivalent arrangements. These practices raise significant concerns about value for taxpayers’ money.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Bullying and Harassment

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many settlement payments her Department issued following claims of (a) bullying, (b) harassment and (c) discrimination in the (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21, (iii) 2021-22 and (iv) 2022-23 financial years.

Julia Lopez: The Department has made no settlement payments for the financial years 2020-21, 2021-22 and 22-23. Due to data retention policies we do not hold information for 2019-20.

Television Licences

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many black and white television licenses were issued by the Television Licensing Authority in each local authority area in 2023.

Julia Lopez: The BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee, and the Government therefore does not hold information on this issue.The BBC’s 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts can be found here.

Women and Equalities

Government Departments: Equality

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many equalities impact assessments were completed by each Department in the most recent year for which data is available.

Stuart Andrew: The number of equality impact assessments completed by each Department is not collected centrally. Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (the Duty) all public authorities are required by law to ensure that they have due regard to certain equality considerations when carrying out their functions. Departments are individually responsible for the monitoring of their own equality assessments and their compliance with the Duty. An ‘equality impact assessment’ (EIA) may be produced. However, this is not a legal requirement.

Home Office

Hate Crime: Sikhs

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help provide reassurances to Sikhs on their (a) safety and (b) security in the context of recent steps taken by the Indian Government.

Chris Philp: Hatred towards Sikhs is completely abhorrent and has no place in our society. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their race or religion and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat it.More broadly, we continue to look at tackling all forms of religious hatred. The department is currently seeking the views and perspectives of domestic and international experts in this field to explore how religious hatred is experienced by British communities today. This work will include anti-Sikh hatredIn 2023/24, the Home Office is providing up to £50.9 million to protect faith communities. This includes £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, £29.4 million through the new Protective Security for Mosques scheme and a scheme for Muslim faith schools, and £3.5 million for the places of worship of other (non-Muslim and non-Jewish) faiths.The Places of Worship Protective Security Funding (PoW) Scheme provides physical protective security measures, such as CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing to places of worship and associated faith community centres of all other (non-Muslim and non-Jewish) faiths that are particularly vulnerable to religiously or racially motivated hate crime in England and Wales.

Visas: Care Workers

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the prevalence of certificates of sponsorship for care workers being sold overseas.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office is aware of allegations of the selling of Certificates of Sponsorship to care workers overseas. All allegations of abuse are investigated but no wider assessment of the prevalence of this activity has been undertaken.

Migrants

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the no recourse to public funds status on (a) homelessness, (b) poverty, (c) access to healthcare and (d) violence against women and girls.

Michael Tomlinson: The Government published an overarching Equality Impact Assessment on the Compliant Environment measures, of which the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) is part, earlier this year: Compliant environment: overarching equality impact assessment (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Department for Work and Pensions

Jobcentres

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the office occupancy rates for job centers.

Jo Churchill: The department holds data on staff and capacity within our jobcentres across a range of different analysis approaches, including floorspace, desks and workstations.The data we hold is continually reviewed and analysed to inform decisions on recruitment planning, capacity management and long-term value for money assessments.

Unemployment: Mental Illness

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the ONS release Rising ill-health and economic inactivity because of long-term sickness, UK: 2019 to 2023, dated 26 July 2023, how job coaches work with people self reporting (a) bad nerves and (b) anxiety.

Jo Churchill: Work coaches are trained to consider claimant's circumstances and to tailor support according to their individual needs. Staff complete training that covers a wide range of circumstances, including when claimants disclose they are experiencing a range of mental health issues. The requirements any claimant is asked to meet will be clearly set out in their Claimant Commitment. All requirements are set in discussion with the claimant, tailored to their capability and circumstances, making them realistic and achievable. Work coaches are also signposted to tools, guidance, support and websites to effectively use resources from both internal and external sites. This ensures that they access the most up to date advice on a particular health condition. They also have access to information on services available in their local area and can signpost to relevant organisations for support.

Jobcentres: Graduates

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available for graduates in job centres.

Jo Churchill: Our core Jobcentre offer provides Universal Credit customers a wide range of support for jobseekers, including those who are graduates. The offer includes face-to-face time with work coaches and access to skills and employment support programmes, alongside specific support targeted towards young people, people aged 50 plus and job seekers with disabilities or health issues.

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish Universal Credit sanctions rate data from its introduction to April 2019.

Jo Churchill: The sanction rate statistics for Universal Credit Full Service were first published in November 2020 and covered monthly statistics from April 2019. These statistics are updated on a quarterly basis with the latest statistics available here.

Universal Credit

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans that the full rollout of Universal Credit will be completed.

Jo Churchill: Universal Credit was successfully rolled out to all Jobcentres by December 2018. We are now focussed on moving those remaining on legacy benefits to Universal Credit through managed migration. The department remains on track to notify all customers that are solely in receipt of Working Tax Credit and/or Child Tax Credit of the need to make a claim to Universal Credit by the end of March 2024. By the end of the 2024/25 financial year, we plan to have completed the remaining moves of all those on tax credits (including those on both Employment and Support Allowance and tax credits), all cases on Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance (Income Based) and all Housing Benefit only cases. Managed migration of customers on income-related Employment Support Allowance (except for those receiving child tax credit) is planned to commence in 2028.

Household Support Fund

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he expects to announce his plans for the household support fund for financial year 2024-25.

Jo Churchill: The Government has provided over £2 billion in funding for the Household Support Fund since October 2021.The current Household Support Fund runs from April 2023 until the end of March 2024, and the government continues to keep all its existing programmes under review in the usual way.

Children: Maintenance

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps the Child Maintenance Service has taken to help recover arrears in child maintenance payments.

Paul Maynard: The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) continues to take rigorous action to collect maintenance, combining robust negotiation activity with the highly effective use of its extensive range of Enforcement Powers. This approach is driven by the Payment Compliance strategy increasing CMS compliance influencing activities to tackle non-paying cases and challenge non-compliant behaviours. CMS applies a Continuous Improvement focus to Enforcement strategy and processes.In the quarter ending September 2023, of 180,000 Paying Parents due to pay via the Collect and Pay service:49,000 (27%) had a deduction from earnings order or request in place64,000 (35%) were due to pay via deduction from benefits69,000 (38%) were due to pay via other methods of payment, predominantly default standing ordersDepending on a Paying Parent’s employment status we use Deduction from Earnings orders or deductions from bank accounts. We have collected in excess of £16m via deduction orders in 2023. We move cases swiftly to Legal Enforcement. Securing a Liability Order (LO) for 11k cases in the courts, cases are referred to Enforcement Agents (Bailiffs) who have collected almost £5m in 2023. Where house ownership is established, charging orders and orders for sale are instigated. CMS will quickly move to taking court action for the removal of driving licence, committal to prison or removal of passport. £4.5m collected from cases at this stage.As a result of this intense effort to increase enforcement activity £36m collected from arrears. The planned introduction of the Administrative Liability Order in 2024 will remove the need to apply to the courts and will reduce the current average time of 20 weeks to secure an LO to 6 weeks. The published statistics below provides data to September 2023 Section 9 Enforcement and the National tables 7.1 and 7.2. Child Maintenance Service statistics: data to September 2023 - GOV.UK(www.gov.uk)

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Solar Power: Supply Chains

Sir Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the China Strategic Risks Institute's report on Building a Green, Fair and Resilient Solar Supply Chain, published on 24 November 2023, if she will have discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of using funds raised through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment to help build solar supply chain capacity.

Andrew Bowie: The Department has noted the findings of the CSRI report, including the recommendation to use funds raised through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment to help build solar supply chain capacity. The Solar Taskforce is considering wide-ranging actions needed to develop resilient, sustainable and innovative supply chains. This work will inform the Government’s Solar Roadmap setting out the trajectory and actions needed to deploy 70GW by 2035. The UK’s main solar industry trade association is leading the industry’s response by developing and piloting the Solar Stewardship Initiative to further develop a responsible, transparent, and sustainable solar value chain.

Aerials and Diesel

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department is taking steps to reduce the use of diesel generators; and what data her Department holds on the number of mobile phone masts powered by diesel generators.

Andrew Bowie: We are committed to fully decarbonising the power system by 2035 but we will not be taking any chances with Britain’s energy supply. Fossil fuel generation such as diesel is used to provide business continuity for infrastructure in the event of disruption to electricity supplies. Users of diesel generators are required to obtain environmental permits and meet limits on emissions of air pollutants as set out in the Environmental Permitting Regulations (England and Wales) 2016. The Department does not hold data on the number of mobile phone masts powered by diesel generators. The majority of mobile phone masts draw their power from the National Grid, with a number having a backup diesel generator, and some being permanently powered by diesel generator.

Civil Nuclear Constabulary

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many serving officers are in the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.

Andrew Bowie: The number of serving officers of all ranks in the Civil Nuclear Constabulary as at the end of December 2023 is 1252.

Renewable Energy

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether Ofgem has taken recent steps to encourage companies to sell (a) solar and (b) other forms of renewable energy back to the grid.

Andrew Bowie: The Government encourages companies and members of the public to sell solar energy back to the grid in many ways. Smaller scale energy generators can export renewable electricity to the grid under the Smart Export Guarantee, while larger scale generators can apply for a Contract for Difference.

Nuclear Power

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether she has made a recent assessment of the efficacy of nuclear energy.

Andrew Bowie: There is no credible pathway to net zero nor energy security without nuclear power. Nuclear complements intermittent technologies like wind and solar and reduce the risks created by the uncertainties of energy storage technologies. The Government’s Civil Nuclear Roadmap, published yesterday, sets out the case for nuclear and presents the Government’s long-term civil nuclear strategy to help deliver our ambition for up to 24GW of nuclear power by 2050.

Nuclear Power

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will take steps to increase the UK’s nuclear energy capacity.

Andrew Bowie: The Civil Nuclear Roadmap, published yesterday, reconfirmed the Government’s ambition to deploy up to 24GW of nuclear power by 2050. The Roadmap sets out key timelines for deployment and government decisions as well as wider enabling policies. The Roadmap announced the Government’s intention to explore a further GW-scale project after Sizewell C and its plans to make investment decisions concerning 3-7GW every five years between 2030 and 2044.

Department for Transport

Boats: Licensing

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department holds data on the number of Boatmaster licences have been issued by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each year since 2015.

Guy Opperman: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency holds the number of Boatmaster licences issued in each year since 2015. Details as follows:2015 – 2018Issue YearTotal Issued2015268201622820171912018198 Following digital enhancements additional data is available in relation to BML issuance: Issue YearNew IssueRevalidationReplacementUpgradeMiscTotal2019131211525114513202015843641149202159229148603702022114426115371675202315833876335601

Heathrow Airport: West Midlands

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of the proposals for a third runway at Heathrow Airport for the West Midlands region.

Anthony Browne: No recent assessment has been made of the merits of a third runway at Heathrow Airport for the regions.Heathrow expansion remains a private sector project and it is for the scheme promoter to decide when it submits a development consent order as part of the statutory planning process.

Diesel Vehicles: Greater London

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185865 on Diesel Vehicles, how many diesel cars were registered for the first time in each borough in Greater London in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) each month in 2023.

Anthony Browne: The number of diesel cars registered for the first time to keepers in each borough in Greater London in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) each month in 2023, for which data are available, is provided in the Excel file attached.Note that the keeper of the vehicle is responsible for registering and taxing the vehicle only. The keeper of the vehicle is not necessarily the owner or the driver, e.g. fleet vehicles owned by companies. Most (61% in 2022) new registrations of diesel cars are to company keepers.231211 Diesel vans in Greater London (xlsx, 25.8KB)231211 Diesel Cars In Greater London (xlsx, 25.8KB)

Department for Business and Trade

Dismissal: Politics

Tahir Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that workers are not dismissed for their legal political opinions.

Kevin Hollinrake: The UK has a longstanding tradition of ensuring individuals’ rights and liberties are protected. The right to freedom of expression is protected by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is given further effect domestically by the Human Rights Act 1998.Employees who are dismissed and consider that their dismissal was unfair can complain to an employment tribunal, generally subject to a qualifying period of 2-years' continuous service.

Arms Trade: Export Controls

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) transparency of the arms export control regime.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world.We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (the Criteria). The Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework and we will not issue an export licence to any destination where to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria.Export licensing is the responsibility of the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU), which brings together operational and policy expertise from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).We publish comprehensive Official Statistics every quarter about the decisions we make on licence applications including those issued, refused, rejected, or revoked. This covers data from every year since January 2008, and is broken down in a variety of ways, including by licence type, outcome, end user destination(s), initial processing time and control entry type. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.

Arms Trade: Armed Conflict

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) transparency and (b) accountability of arms sales to countries involved in conflicts.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world.We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (the Criteria). The Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework and we will not issue an export licence to any destination where to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria.We can and do respond quickly and flexibly to changing international circumstances. All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard. Acting upon advice from other Government departments, in particular the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office regarding the situation in country and the risks this poses with respect to the UK’s export control responsibilities. Secretary of State for Business and Trade is able to amend, suspend or revoke extant licences and refuse new licence applications as circumstances require.We publish comprehensive Official Statistics every quarter about the decisions we make on licence applications including those issued, refused or revoked. This includes data on outcome, end user destination(s), value and licence (product type). This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.

Wales Office

Devolution: Wales

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to provide for a referendum on the continuation of the Government of Wales Act 1998.

David T C Davies: The UK Government has no plans to hold a referendum on the continuation of devolution in Wales. People in Wales voted in support of devolution in two referenda – in 1997 to establish the National Assembly for Wales and in 2011 to provide it with full law-making powers. Rather than reopening the question of devolution via a referendum, I would encourage anyone unhappy with the laws being passed by the Senedd to make their voice heard through the ballot box at the next Senedd election.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: Pest Control

Sarah Olney: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many times pest control has been called onto the Parliamentary estate in each of the last three years.

Sir Charles Walker: A pest control expert is based on-site. The pest control team monitor and take steps to manage pests on the Parliamentary estate.In the past three years a total of 1,180 requests for pest control have been made and the number for each year are given below:15/12/2020–14/12/2021: 22715/12/2021–14/12/2022: 41215/12/2022–14/12/2023: 541